Monika Wingate is CEO and co-founder of Digsite, an on-demand insight community platform that makes it fast and easy for businesses to get consumer feedback on brand and product ideas. She started her career at General Mills and Pillsbury, and later founded a brand consulting firm where Digsite was born.
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Resources Mentioned:
- Audible – Get a FREE Audiobook & 30 day trial if you’re not currently a member!
- The Small Business Development Centre – Monika’s small business resource
- Traction – Monika’s top business book
- Digsite – Get consumer insights, fast
- The Lean Start-Up – Learn how to test if you’ve got a winning idea
3 Key Points:
- Push your boundaries. Keep working to find out what more you’re capable of.
- Learn how to sell. Until you know that, your business cannot succeed.
- Reach out to people. Find a mentor who’s where you want to be and talk to them.
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Time Stamped Show Notes
(click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.)
- [01:05] – Monika describes herself as a ‘recovering triathlete’
- [02:10] – Monika generates revenue through subscriptions to Digsite
- [02:24] – Annual subscriptions are $6,000; there’s also a week-long ‘sprint’ subscription
- [03:29] – Worst Entrepreneurial Moment: A meeting with a lawyer, which made her realize she wasn’t prepared to found a company
- [05:29] – “Never, ever give up. You need an irrational sense of optimism
- [7:00] – Entrepreneurial AH-HA Moment: Realizing that she needed to become a software expert
- [08:56] – “The Lean Start-Up” – people will vote with their wallets
- [09:48] – Biggest weakness? – “Taking care of myself”
- [11:00] – “You have to prioritize… realize it’s going to be okay, trust people, and delegate”
- [11:24] – Biggest strength? – “Solving problems”
- [11:30] – Monika’s team has daily stand-up meetings where they talk about the day’s obstacles and try to fix them
- [12:39] – “If I don’t have the answer, then someone else out there does. I just need to listen.”
- [15:10] – The Lightning Round
- What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur? – “Building the right network”
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – “Success in business is the company being able to run without me.”
- What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? – “Listen and reward. Acknowledgement and recognition is really important”
- Share an internet resource, like Evernote, with Fire Nation – The Small Business Development Centre
- If you could recommend just one book to our listeners, what would it be and why? – Traction
- Imagine you woke up tomorrow morning in a brand new world, identical to earth, but you knew no one. You still have all the experiences and knowledge you currently have – your food and shelter taken cared of – but all you have is a laptop and $500. What would you do in the next 7 days? – “Find people who need help and go to help them out”
- [19:18] – Connect with Monika on Linkedin
- [19:24] – Parting piece of guidance: “Go out and live your dream. Don’t let people tell you you can’t, and don’t be afraid to fail”
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